


This thing love does to you

by livingforazirowley



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Boys Kissing, Established Relationship, Fluff, Human AU, Love, M/M, Valentine's Day, ineffable boyfriends, ineffable husbands, kiss, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-22 15:17:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22718074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livingforazirowley/pseuds/livingforazirowley
Summary: Anthony is not a fan of Saint Valentine's day, but he doesn't really care.
Relationships: Aziraphale & Crowley (Good Omens), Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 52





	This thing love does to you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DodoDenise](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DodoDenise/gifts).



> This is part of a fanfic exchange Valentine’s Day, I hope you enjoy!

Sometimes, and only if you get really lucky, sometimes you meet someone that turns upside down your opinion about something. You despised, loathed and campaigned against that particular thing, for whatever the reasons. But then, you happen to meet someone who, despite enjoying, cherishing and campaigning for that particular thing that you are against, you fall in love with.

Or that was the only explanation Anthony could find for what he was doing right this minute.

“Whomever these are for, they must be very lucky,” the florist said with a kind smile as she laced a blue and golden bow (“You sure you don’t want a red one best, dear?”) to nicely tie the flowers together.

“He’s not the lucky one,” Anthony mumbled, feeling his ears turn red as the words slipped from his lips.

“I’m sure you both are,” she answered, handing him the bouquet. She had done a beautiful work. Anthony paid and exited the beautifully scented shop to step into the cold. Bracing the flowers, the chocolate box he had bought just before and himself, he started walking towards the bookshop. People looked at him, some of them smiling in collusion, and he looked anywhere else only to find endless window shops filled with plastic flowers, heart-shaped balloons and constant reminders that today was, in fact, Saint Valentine’s day.

Yes, alright, he had spent most of his twenties despising everything that had anything to do with the holiday. Big corporations were behind it, urging people to spend more money on more useless staff, and people then would eventually split up or get divorced or worse. So what was the point?

Well, the point was, Anthony reminded himself, making Zira happy. 

Because that’s how it works, isn’t it? Love, that is. There’s suddenly someone who shakes your world to the point that it becomes a fuzzy, glittery thing, and everything they say and do, even those things you have ironically made fun of in the past, is plainly beautiful. And then, you start wondering if, just perhaps, there is any chance you may be stirring their world too. You start imagining yourself leaning in to cup his cheek, to play with that stray curl, to kiss him. You have to remind yourself that you are just not allowed to do that. What would happen if you scared him away and then never get the chance to see that beaming smile again?

Oh, because that smile. That smile could light the entirety of London. The way he smiled, Anthony thought, could potentially end Earth’s miseries. At least, it had ended Anthony’s miseries.

Eventually, and it’s not yet clear how to any of them, they kissed. It wasn’t something planned, it wasn’t expected either, but they did. And they had barely stopped since. As Anthony learned a bit later, Zira had also been spending half of their conversations thinking about leaning in to take his hand, to take his sunglasses of, to kiss him. And, as he made that confession, there was that smile again, blinding Anthony.

So that became Anthony’s new purpose in life: making Zira smile. Coy, smug, beaming, sympathetic, conniving, amused, happy, polite. He didn’t care how, he only wanted it there. And one of the things that made that smile appear was, apparently, Saint Valentine’s. 

Surprising no one but himself, Anthony hadn’t felt a pang of disappointment in Zira because of their difference of opinions, but an even deeper fall into loving this man. How easily did he manage to see past the darkness of the world, without ignoring it, to appreciate the beauty therein, was one of the many things Anthony couldn’t help but love about him.

And that’s why, despite all his previous rants about big corporations and the transience of love, he was smiling, walking down the street on a 14th of February, holding a bouquet of local flowers and a box of handmade chocolates. He was happy and in love, wasn’t he?

Anthony pushed the door of the bookshop open, making the bell chim, and entered.

“Hello, Zira! It’s me,” he said when he saw the place was empty.

“Coming right in, just give me a minute!”, Zira’s singing voice came from the backroom.

Zira had insisted on not doing anything out of their ordinary dinner date, knowing Anthony’s former opinions on the holiday, not that he had mentioned it. He had just made a bunch of excuses, but being the cutest worst liar Anthony had ever laid eyes on, he had made the decision to surprise him. Just a bit, nothing fancy, enough to make him smile and not make a fuss about the whole thing.

“Oh,” Zira said the second he saw Anthony. “Oh!” he repeated. “Are… are those for me?” There it was, his little mouth was starting to shift from a round “o” to that precious smile. But it was not quite there yet. 

“Only if you like them,” Anthony answered, a smug smile painted on his face.

“I love them!” Zira said and rushed forward, smiling in a way that made Anthony’s knees wobble, to take not the flowers but Anthony’s face between his hands. And to kiss him. “You didn’t have to,” he eventually said, and kissed him once more before letting him go to admire the cheesy gifts he hadn’t asked for but yet, as Anthony would agree, he deserved.

“I wanted to,” Anthony shrugged, now feeling a bit self-conscious.

“I know that you’re not a… a fan, so to speak, of the holiday. I would hate to impose,” Zira stepped back a bit, a crease on his forehead that read worry.

“No, no, you’re not, Zira, I promise,” Anthony immediately said, getting closer to him and awkwardly trying to grab him from his shoulders, still holding both the bouquet and the box of chocolates. “I did it because I wanted to. I wanted to make you happy. Maybe make you smile?” he added, making Zira blush.

“You do?” he answered, looking at him.

“‘Course I do,” he shrugged again.”Because I love seeing you happy. I love seeing you smile,” he said. “Because I love you.”

“I love you too.”


End file.
